The Pentagon has reported 800 are presumed dead and the building is still on fire.
"Reconnaissance efforts conducted overnight indicate that there are no survivors in the immediate collapsed area. Listening devices that have been able to get in have proven negative, and it is doubtful that anyone in the immediate impact area survived," the statement said.
Search-and-rescue operations are continuing, but they are stymied by at least two fires on either side of the impact area. Firefighters are directing hoses at the flames - manifested by great plumes of bitter smoke - from the center courtyard of the Pentagon.
Rescue teams planned to use a wrecking ball in the collapsed area to clear away unstable rubble, clearing the way for the Montgomery County and Virginia Beach Urban Search and Rescue Teams to begin the search in adjacent areas.
Arlington County firefighters and rescue teams have been directing the recovery operation.
Dozens of body bags were stored on the grass surrounding a snack shop in the Pentagon's center courtyard, a structure playfully known as "Ground Zero," as it was long considered a high priority target point for Soviet missiles.
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